1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a natural query interface, and more particularly to a natural query interface based on selecting concepts.
2. Description of the Related Art
The information age has lead to an environment where information access is becoming increasingly important. Various challenges result from so many people accessing information. Further exacerbating the challenges, business entities (such as corporations) typically have their information in many different formats, and different people with different skill sets access the information using different information devices. The information devices can be wired or wireless. Currently, more and more people are trying to get access to the information through wireless means. The worldwide market for information appliances is predicted to exceed 89 million units and $17.8 billion in 2004, and the shipment of Internet cell phones will reach 172 million units by 2005.
Information devices, e.g., information appliances, can access information through various different types of user interfaces. One type of user interface relies on voice recognition to receive user input. Presently, voice recognition is not mature enough for pervasive use. In addition, voice recognition approaches are not appropriate for many applications or situations. Another type of user interface relies on handwriting recognition. For example, certain personal digital assistants use handwriting as a user interface. This can be a versatile approach. However, the technologies are not so well developed as to allow one to write quickly, while still accurately recognizing the handwriting.
Still another type of user interface uses one or a series of predetermined menus that a user interacts with to make selections using a pointing mechanism or using data entry keys or buttons. For example, NTT Docomo of Japan has been quite successful with a mobile telephone that uses such a user interface. Typically, out of a user menu of a fixed number of choices, a user selects one. For example, a pull-down menu can be displayed, and the user can select one element out of the menu being displayed. Additional detailed menus can further refine the user's choice. In general, this type of user interface is inflexible and offers only a limited number of choices. For example, there may be seven top choices, each with a limited number of sub-choices. Once you pick one of the sub-choices, you may be given a direct answer. Another weakness in this type of user interface is that its menus are static and lack intelligence.
It should have been apparent from the foregoing that there is a need for an improved user interface for information appliances.